FastTicket machine problems

[Tresh]

I have booked a ticket for travel from Stoke on Trent to London Euston for travel this afternoon.

I tried to collect the tickets from the FastTicket machines yesterday at Stoke on Trent. I tried all three machines and they said they did not recognise the code. I have called Virgin this morning who tell me the tickets were collected.

I know I did not collect the tickets. What can I do?

Urgent help please!

Thanks in advance.

 

[schwa]

You probably need to find out (if possible) when and where the tickets were officially collected.

It's possible the tickets may have come out after you had gone. Sounds silly, but it happens.

I would probably want to go down to Stoke on Trent station to see if the tickets have been handed in, or to see if they've been having issues with the machines.. they may be able to help you.

 

[Tresh]

On the phone they told me they were collected at Stoke on Trent. They were unable to say when. I had my father with me, he saw me try all three machines and nothing came out.

Virgin were most unhelpful on the phone simply a case of "computer says no" really. They said I had to purchase new tickets and that a refund would be at the discretion of customer services, which to me is a fob off and they will simply say what has been said already when I apply for the refund.

I really cannot afford to be shelling out another 60 quid for a ticket!

 

[All Line Rover]

On the phone they told me they were collected at Stoke on Trent. They were unable to say when. I had my father with me, he saw me try all three machines and nothing came out.

Virgin were most unhelpful on the phone simply a case of "computer says no" really. They said I had to purchase new tickets and that a refund would be at the discretion of customer services, which to me is a fob off and they will simply say what has been said already when I apply for the refund.

I really cannot afford to be shelling out another 60 quid for a ticket!

Unfortunately, this won't be sorted by this afternoon, so you will have to buy a new ticket.

You should first write a letter to Virgin's Customer Relations department, explaining the situation and asking for a refund on the new ticket you will have to purchase. Someone on here works in that department, and will hopefully be able to resolve your case. I imagine he will PM you after reading this thread, so give him a day or two.

If the worst comes to the worst, you will have to contact Passenger Focus, although I'm sure that the person on here who works for Virgin's Customer Relations department will prove to be far more helpful!

 

[Tresh]

Unfortunately, this won't be sorted by this afternoon, so you will have to buy a new ticket.

You should first write a letter to Virgin's Customer Relations department, explaining the situation and asking for a refund on the new ticket you will have to purchase. Someone on here works in that department, and will hopefully be able to resolve your case. I imagine he will PM you after reading this thread, so give him a day or two.

If the worst comes to the worst, you will have to contact Passenger Focus, although I'm sure that the person on here who works for Virgin's Customer Relations department will prove to be far more helpful!

Thank you - let's hope he does PM me. It's so frustrating as I've never had a problem with FastTicket machines before and wish I'd just gone for the e-ticket option now. The sales support call centre I called were next to useless this morning. The whole saga has ruined what was a nice weekend with my parents to this point.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Well I am pleased to report all got sorted by the helpful Virgin staff at the station who simply gave me a voucher saying the FastTicket machine had failed and allowing me to travel.

Just wish the call centre in India could have proved in the slightest bit helpful so I didn't have to spend the whole morning fretting!

 

[penaltyfines]

Just wish the call centre in India could have proved in the slightest bit helpful so I didn't have to spend the whole morning fretting!

Nothing good has ever come from outsourcing to India!

 

[bnm]

Nothing good has ever come from outsourcing to India!

Cheaper services?

 

[90019]

Cheaper services?

That's a bit more accurate.

 

[142094]

Cheaper services?

Couple of stories in the newspapers that the costs of staff and offices are rocketing in India, so a few companies have brought staff back to the UK (one was in the Wigan area). When you think about it, we have lots of empty offices and people on the dole to do such a job, so everything has come full circle. I'm sure I also read that an Indian company had outsourced some jobs to over here!

 

[jon0844]

It was always going to happen. Everything seems to operate in circles.

The fact is, outsourcing is great at saving money but when there's the backlash and people demand to speak to a UK operator, it doesn't take long for a company to realise it can bring staff back to the UK and use it as a selling point.

I don't have a problem with the people in India that answer calls from me, as they're usually very polite and speak very good English - but in the majority of my personal experiences, they don't have the authority or ability to do much more than palm you off, apologising for the problems and then repeating a script over and over until you want to murder them!

That is why people then demand to speak to a supervisor and often come back here, meaning they're just paid to do little more than screen calls or deal with very basic things, like checking account balances or whatever (stuff you could probably get via the web anyway).

 

[317 forever]

I am suddenly concerned about some Fast Tickets I have booked online, within the same transaction.

Two are for next week and the other 3 for the August Bank Holiday weekend.

I collected the ones for next week last week but have not yet collected the ones for August. I just hope not to meet with any nonsense about being too late to collect the August ones that week. I prefer not to collect these later ones until a few days before travel.

 

[Mike395]

I am suddenly concerned about some Fast Tickets I have booked online, within the same transaction.

Two are for next week and the other 3 for the August Bank Holiday weekend.

I collected the ones for next week last week but have not yet collected the ones for August. I just hope not to meet with any nonsense about being too late to collect the August ones that week. I prefer not to collect these later ones until a few days before travel.

You'll be fine Tickets in the TOD database are stored individually, not collectively

 

[MarkyMarkD]

I don't have a problem with the people in India that answer calls from me, as they're usually very polite and speak very good English - but in the majority of my personal experiences, they don't have the authority or ability to do much more than palm you off, apologising for the problems and then repeating a script over and over until you want to murder them!

That is why people then demand to speak to a supervisor and often come back here, meaning they're just paid to do little more than screen calls or deal with very basic things, like checking account balances or whatever (stuff you could probably get via the web anyway).

But the situation you describe is a consequence of lack of empowerment, not of where the staff are based. The same would apply in exactly the same way if there was a call centre team based in Wigan with the same lack of empowerment.

Offshoring works, if the staff are empowered to deal with whatever problems may arise.

 

[Simon11]

The most common mistake when people collect tickets at the ticket machines, is that they input the wrong references!

For example on a Virgin Trains booking e-mail confirmation it says:

Your booking reference is 1133050636

Your FastTicket Reference is XX7462CL

You need to input the Fast Ticket Reference, a mixture of numbers and letters, along with the card you paid for the tickets with

Was this the possible error?

 

[AlterEgo]

That is a common error! However it is unlikely to have been made in this case as he tickets were listed as being collected on the database.

 

[317 forever]

You'll be fine Tickets in the TOD database are stored individually, not collectively

Thanks for your reassurance Mike. I noticed that, although I was given a total amount to pay, they appeared on my statement as seperate purchases.

I hope you enjoy your August Bank Holiday weekend!